THE TELEGRAPH EDITORIAL ON THE HAWPAR BENGAL VENTURE

[Guest guest]

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1060211/asp/opinion/story_5829743.asp

SHARKS, DOLPHINS AND JOY

Governance has often been a visionary affair for the chief minister of

West Bengal. And his visions for Calcutta have been especially grand.

If the airport happens to be on strike and overflowing with filth, the

grounded tourist will soon be able to while away his time playing with

state-of-the-art dolphins and turtles in the city. This is the latest

dream — an " aggressively cheerful " underground aquarium in Rajarhat

New Town, built by Singaporeans and costing Rs 500 crore. Calcuttans

should have got used to such immortal imaginings by now. But the

obscenity of this particular plan might knock down the less visionary

citizen this time. The scale of the thing is Wagnerian. Atlantis and

Noah's Ark, stone, steel, glass, six million litres of salt water, 300

acres of land, 3,000 specimens of fish (including 250 sharks), 600

kinds of plants and coral reefs, birds and animals — when a simple

zoo, one of the most famous in India, is now in a state of pathetic

decrepitude through mismanagement and neglect. And all this to " put

Bengal into an international league of tourist destinations " .

 

It is tempting to dismiss with a titter such a combination of

wastefulness and tackiness trying to pass itself off as the

development of tourism. But coming so unabashedly from none less than

the chief minister himself, the matter becomes one of profound concern

— both the project itself, and what it says about the nature of

governance in West Bengal. How exactly are decisions made, contracts

signed and such enormous sums of money spent in this state and in this

hapless city?

 

A city becomes a tourist attraction because of the over-all experience

it has to offer a visitor. This is as much a matter of heritage and

history (and how these are preserved and projected), as one of

practical and civic amenities at the most basic level. Such things as

airports, railway stations, public transport, roads, hospitals,

toilets, trees, parks and rivers are most often what memorable visits

are made up of, apart from museums, galleries, theatres, cinemas,

restaurants, shops and, more generally, beautiful architecture. Beauty

and convenience must coexist with a sense of safety and well-being.

Clean air and friendly, efficient policemen make a great deal of

difference, for instance, as do proper facilities for the disabled,

easy access to information and minimal bureaucracy. Intelligent,

down-to-earth and meticulous planning, constantly monitored and

accountable, is therefore essential for anything that aspires to call

itself the development of tourism.

 

Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's marine extravaganza is an evidence of

cluelessness on all these fronts. It shows a lack of a sense of

priorities, and therefore, of basic human scruple, that is perhaps

more breathtaking than the submarine vistas with which it attempts to

beguile ordinary Calcuttans and tourists.